Who's got Ovid tattooed on their tummy? Who has Song of Songs down their spine? And whose tribute to her mother in bad French?

No Doubt his mind is firmly on the rigors of the World Cup challenge ahead, according to the Daily Mail.

So perhaps that’s why England footballer Ross Barkley has got himself a rather inspiring tattoo.

Quoting Aristotle, it reads: ‘No notice is taken of little evil, when it increases it strikes the eye.’

And he’s not alone.

Other celebrities have similarly profound quotation tattoos — be they sayings from Confucius, lines of poetry, great chunks of the Bible and even an excerpt from a speech by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26^th U.S. president.

So — with the help of some background information from Alison Boshoff — can you match the rather unlikely celebrity to the tattoo?


Ross Barkley has got a new tattoo which, quoting Aristotle, reads: 'No notice is taken of little evil, when it increases it strikes the eye'


1: 'Quod me nutruit me destruit' which is Latin for 'That which feeds me also destroys me'. There are whispers that it refers to this Hollywood star's brush with eating disorders, and it also has resonance for drug users. The phrase appears on a 1585 portrait of playwright Christopher Marlowe, and is borrowed from Roman poet Ovid, who claimed that he had been killed by his own talent


2: This champion runner from South Africa has a long verse from Corinthians on his back, which begins: 'I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. I execute each strike with intent. I beat my body and make it my slave...' Done on impulse at a New York parlour at 2am, the last letters are 'squiggly' because the tattooist was falling asleep


3: This singer has German text on her bicep, by poet Rainer Maria Rilke. It translates as: 'Confess to yourself in the deepest hour of the night whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. Dig deep into your heart, where the answer spreads its roots in your being, and ask yourself solemnly, Must I write?' Clearly, her taste in poetry is nearly as odd as her dress sense


4: With a stellar TV career and two marriages under her belt, this actress had 'I am enough' in Latin inked on her foot when she was 46. She explained: 'When my daughter says "I want a tattoo", I can reply: "Wait until you're 46 and you can get whatever tattoo you want."' Nothing Desperate about that, then



5: A big tattoo fan, this retired footballer has a Chinese proverb on his torso. 'Death and life have their determined appointment, riches and honour depend on heaven,' it reads. An odd sentiment as he and his wife have plenty of riches, but have never shown any signs of a spiritual side, let alone of waiting until the next world for their reward


6: 'Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path' reads the tattoo on this believer's shoulder. The verse comes from Psalm 119. Certainly, after a series of recent scandals, the controversy-prone heart-throb singer could use some solid guidance from on high


7: A love poem from the Bible's Song Of Songs, written in Hebrew presumably to look more Posh. It reads: 'I am my love's and my love is mine.' Her footballer husband had a matching Hebrew tattoo done at the same time